Straight Up and Over: navigating the faithful journey
In the movie Homeward Bound three family pets decide to make their way home after being left temporarily with a family friend. As they escape and set out for a mountain range in the distance, the old retriever, Shadow, tells his companions, home is straight up and over, assuring them they would be home by dark.
How many of us can relate to their despair as they crested the ridge, and looked out over an expanse of mountains and wilderness, instead of their cozy, suburban neighborhood? Is it really so different when we believe God has called us to something and we set out on that adventure, expecting blue skies and well-marked trails, only to discover threatening clouds looming overhead and a hiking terrain well above our level of conditioning and skill. We have no idea where we’re heading or how to get to wherever that may be, yet we’re doing our best to trust that the one who prompted us to begin the journey, knows exactly what he’s doing.
That’s where I was nearly three years ago when the foster peeps first arrived. They came on a frigid, January night, two pint-sized strangers with nothing but a smile. I had never sacrificed so much for another human, and despite God’s confirmation and peace this was indeed a task he called me to, I felt completely over my head. Nothing in the foster parenting classes had prepared me for the challenges I faced in the coming months or years, perhaps nothing really could, but I was committed. I was their hope and more than anything they needed someone to lay down their life and give them a chance to embrace that hope. It was a call far beyond what I could ever do on my own and I desperately needed God’s provision to carry me through.
The challenges may remain, though as Paul writes, We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body. For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body. 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 NET
When we choose to serve God in faithful obedience, we can trust he will press us beyond our own strength, beyond our own abilities, beyond our own comfort or convenience, beyond our own wishes and dreams. He will call us to die to our very self so that those around us may see his son, Jesus. There are never any short cuts in a mission that God calls us to, as evidenced by the record of Paul’s life, yet we are promised his grace is sufficient and his power made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). In this we are assured whatever trail we find ourselves on, we never go it alone. No matter how treacherous, no matter how desolate, he is far more faithful a companion than Shadow could ever promise to be, and we can take heart in knowing that he who began a good work in us will carry it out to completion (Philippians 1:6).
